Sharrif Floyd

The Minnesota Vikings have a long tradition of having very good defensive tackles. They drafted Sharrif Floyd in the first round of the 2013 draft in hopes that he can continue the trend. He learned a lot of from former teammate Kevin Williams and slimmed down in the offseason to reach his full potential. This season should be the beginning of the Floyd era in Minnesota.

Everywhere Linval Joseph goes, Sharrif Floyd is right there with him. They are the Minnesota Vikings’ twin tackles, 620 pounds worth of humanity that represent a new day for the team’s defense and a new hope that the struggles of last year will soon be forgotten.

The Minnesota Vikings had the game won. Then they didn’t. Then they did. Finally, they didn’t as the Baltimore Ravens scored a touchdown with four seconds remaining to pull off the 29-26 victory Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. The Vikings units performed all right considering the elements they were playing in all game.

The Minnesota Vikings will not have quarterback Christian Ponder for Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens due to the concussion suffered in the win over the Chicago Bears. Matt Cassel will take over as the starter with Josh Freeman serving as his backup. The Vikings had five players listed as non-participants, four as limited participants and four as full participants at Thursday’s practice.

The Minnesota Vikings will likely be without Josh Freeman for Sunday’s contest against the Green Bay Packers at Mall of America Field. That means third-year quarterback Christian Ponder will take the reigns of the first unit. The Vikings listed four players as non-participants, four as limited participants and four as full participants for Thursday’s practice.

The Minnesota Vikings put forth another poor showing. Even the players that provided the highlights also provided lowlights. The offense never got into a rhythm. The best Vikings defense was the Giants offense at times.

The Minnesota Vikings have a very good defense on paper. However, on the field it has been a different story. The Vikings rank near the bottom in the league in most statistical defensive categories. The Vikings lost linebacker Desmond Bishop to a torn ACL during the Week 5 loss to the Carolina Panthers. Head coach Leslie Frazier would like to name his starting quarterback for Monday’s showdown with the winless New York Giants on Wednesday.

The Minnesota Vikings are expecting to get a big boost from the return of defensive tackle Kevin Williams from injury. The 11-year NFL veteran missed just the third game of his career due to injury. The Vikings have eight players on their injury report, including four full participants and four limited participants.

On Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings kickoff the 2013 NFL season in Detroit against the Lions. On Friday we learned that the Vikings would be without one of their top players for the season opener. Defensive tackle Kevin Williams has been ruled out for this Sunday’s game against Detroit by head coach Leslie Frazier as he recovers from a hyper-extended knee.

Ready or not, here it comes for Minnesota Vikings rookie defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd. Kevin Williams’ right knee injury will keep him out of the season opener against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. That means Floyd will be thrust into a prominent role in the middle of the Vikings defense.

Defensive tackle Kevin Williams was the only Minnesota Vikings to miss practice Thursday. Safety Harrison Smith and McLeod Bethel-Thompson were the only players to have their practice status change from Wednesday to Thursday. Three players were full participants both days despite injuries and five were limited both days.

Question No. 1 for week one — will Kevin Williams play for the Vikings? If he doesn’t, is first round pick Sharrif Floyd ready? “For us, it’s more about this first game and concentrating on getting this win on the road – this is so important,” Leslie Frazier said.

The Minnesota Vikings claimed former Chicago Bears offensive tackle J’Marcus Webb and released Troy Kropog Sunday. Head coach Leslie Frazier said that he would talk about injuries on Wednesday, including the right knee of Kevin Williams. The Vikings filled their practice squad roster with eight players.

There is plenty of reason to be optimistic about the upcoming Minnesota Vikings season, which starts Sept. 8 at Detroit, followed by a Sept. 15 match-up at Chicago. But one CBS expert isn’t convinced and thinks the Vikings will miss the playoffs this year.

As players report to training camp on Thursday, the Minnesota Vikings have announced they’ve signed all three of their first-round draft picks. The Vikings started by signing their top draft choice, defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, Thursday morning.

Kevin Williams is still with the Minnesota Vikings, 10 years after they made him the ninth overall pick in the NFL draft. Williams has played through all kinds of ups and downs. The most recent low point was the pay cut the burly defensive tackle was asked to take two months ago. Staying with the team, though, was more important to Williams than pride.